1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates in general to a computer technique, and more particularly to a pilot process method for system boot and an associated apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In many Linux embedded systems, in order to boot a Linux operating system, a pilot apparatus is required for piloting the Linux operating system when initializing software/hardware systems and piloting a Linux inner core. Basic system parameters related to the pilot apparatus are referred to as environment variables, e.g., an IP address on the Internet, section configurations of systems, setting parameters of memories and pilot parameters of an inner core, which are all stored in a predetermined region. The environment variables are stored in a predetermined region of a NAND flash memory that stores data in a unit of memory blocks. The pilot apparatus reads the environment variables from the NAND flash memory during the system boot-on process, and can access the environment variables in the memory afterwards. In the event of any updates of the environment variables, the updates are synchronized to the NAND flash memory.
Compared to a NOR flash memory, a NAND memory with advantages of having a fast access speed, a large capacity and a low cost per unit capacity prevails in serving as a carrier for data storage. However, although a NAND flash memory is more advantageously in terms of capacity and cost, it suffers from a drawback of having reliability that is less desirable than that of a NOR flash memory. Therefore, a system boot failure may result when an irrevocable error or damage exists in the environment variables stored in the predetermined region of the NAND flash memory.
Whether the environment variables are erroneous or damaged directly determines whether a system can be successfully booted, meaning that any error or damage in the environment variables would greatly impact user experience negatively in using the system. Therefore, there is a need for a solution for storing crucial information of the environment variables with better reliability.